Chapter 337: Beat the Drums and Assemble the Generals

Xue San used a concentrated broth made from precious medicinal herbs to forcibly keep the Sword Saint alive.

Some of those herbs had been gathered from the Tianduan Mountains.

As the old saying went:

Live by the mountain, eat from the mountain.

Live by the water, eat from the water.

Among Shengle’s external trade, demonic beasts naturally brought enormous profits.

But rare specialties from the Tianduan Mountains also accounted for a considerable share of business especially precious medicinal herbs.

Some of those herbs were things even Xue San had never seen before.

They existed only in this world.

So he had tested them personally and confirmed their properties.

On top of that, the southern campaign against the State of Qian and the looting of the Jin imperial palace had produced quite a harvest of rare medicines.

Selling such things would have been painful.

So they had simply kept them for their own use.

The “great tonic bath” Xue San had once prepared for the Master had also contained many precious herbs.

Naturally, there was no possibility they would leave such things behind when departing on campaign this time.

To put it coldly if an ordinary soldier suffered some serious problem and failed to survive, then he failed to survive.

But if something happened to one of the Demon Kings or to the Master then naturally every possible resource would be thrown into saving them.

And truthfully, that was not unique to this world.

Even in later generations, whenever an epidemic broke out, the rich and powerful still received testing and treatment first.

That was reality.

And the Sword Saint qualified perfectly under the rules of “reality.”

When Xue San finally emerged after working, Zheng Fan immediately asked:

“How is he?”

Xue San’s expression was grave.

“The problem is very serious.

“His meridians are broken all over.

“Some are severed.

“Others are torn.

“I feel that even if he survives this time, he’ll probably become a cripple.

“He may even struggle to take care of himself.”

“That serious?”

General Zheng’s heart was bleeding.

“Uh.

“But we still have to save him,” Xue San said.

“I understand that.”

Zheng Fan nodded.

The Sword Saint still had to be saved.

Even if he became a cripple, his understanding of the sword was something almost no one in this world could match.

And there was a natural sword embryo back in Shengle City.

If the Sword Saint could continue guiding her, perhaps ten years later Zheng Fan might have another female Sword Saint under his command.

More importantly the man had just forcibly broken through his realm and opened the gate to Second Grade.

Originally, even Liang Cheng had believed the Sword Saint was absolutely certain to die.

But fuck.

Who knew?

Zheng Fan suddenly realized something.

In this world, Hero Chen counted as one.

The Sword Saint counted as another.

Both were the kind of men who seemed to possess protagonist-level destinies.

As someone who had once created comics, Zheng Fan understood perfectly what that sort of fate meant.

It meant that no matter how miserable, how fallen, how ruined a man appeared right now several years later, he might suddenly rise again.

By all logic, the Sword Saint was already crippled.

The probability of him rising again was almost nonexistent.

But Zheng Fan did not mind waiting.

He was willing to wait.

Besides, the Sword Saint had never cost much to maintain in the first place.

A crippled Sword Saint would naturally cost even less.

The only painful part was that those thousand enemy heads worth of military merit really did have to be converted into silver.

That hurt.

But it still had to be paid.

There was no discussion there.

No matter how stingy General Zheng might be, he would never delay the pay owed to his soldiers.

If you delayed wages to laborers, all you had to worry about was preventing a riot.

But if you delayed the pay of these grunts they had sabers in their hands.

“Assign two men you trust.

“Have them watch him carefully.”

“Don’t worry, Master.

“This subordinate understands.”

“Good.

“I’m going to rest.”

“Good night, Master.”

General Zheng had done almost nothing today.

He had mostly just run for his life.

But even so, he had been frightened into a full-body sweat.

Naturally, there was no luxury like taking a bath.

He merely washed his face, lay down beside the brazier, and went straight to sleep.

Zheng Fan fell asleep quickly.

Because his heart felt much steadier now.

The savages had lost Gelimu.

Next let them see how they intended to attack this fortress.

...

Sure enough, the next three days passed peacefully.

The savages had lost their commander.

They had also lost the general who understood siege warfare.

Their morale and their tactical coordination had both suffered badly.

During those three days, Liang Cheng took some time to train the Jin slaves.

He also had veteran soldiers teach them basic experience.

One could only say that he was trying to make them into somewhat more competent cannon fodder as quickly as possible.

To the north, small groups of savage cavalry occasionally came down from the snowfields to investigate.

Most likely, nearby tribes had discovered that Snow Sea Pass had been closed and that Great Yan’s Black Dragon Banner now flew above it.

So they had deliberately sent people over to see what was happening.

But no organized savage force appeared from the north.

Finally on the fourth day the savage army to the south began attacking the fortress.

Gelimu was dead.

Their commander-in-chief was dead.

Their specialist in siege warfare was gone.

None of that could stop the savages from assaulting Snow Sea Pass.

Because they had no other choice.

This fortress they had to retake it.

Zheng Fan climbed onto the wall early.

Fan Li stood on his right holding a shield.

A’Ming stood on his left.

Outside the fortress, the savage army had already begun forming ranks.

One could see that over the past several days they had indeed constructed a fair amount of siege equipment.

Most of it consisted of scaling ladders.

There were also battering rams.

Unfortunately, those battering rams looked rather awkward.

Someone had apparently insisted on mounting wheels beneath them.

The savage army itself was numerous.

Visually, the pressure created by so many men was still enormous.

But more advanced equipment mobile siege towers and similar machinery had clearly been beyond them.

There were three reasons.

First, time had been short.

Second, they lacked suitable craftsmen.

Third, the nearby forests had already been stripped under Liang Cheng’s policy of strengthening the defenses and clearing the surrounding land.

If the savages wanted timber, they had to travel much farther to cut it.

That had greatly reduced their efficiency.

Inside Snow Sea Pass, the five trebuchets were already prepared.

Armored soldiers atop the walls stood ready for battle.

Because Snow Sea Pass had been looted by the savages before, Zheng Fan had not been able to replenish his equipment here as much as he would have liked.

Fortunately, General Zheng had always been willing to spend heavily when outfitting his troops.

Before this expedition, there had also been a waiting period.

During that time, every workshop in and around Shengle had halted ordinary production and concentrated on filling out the Shengle Army’s military stores.

Besides, the assault on Fengxin City had succeeded through seizing the gate.

Their equipment losses there had been negligible.

At the same time, they had captured a great deal of matériel.

So for the moment, Snow Sea Pass did not lack weapons or siege-defense equipment.

Arrows should also be sufficient for now.

But according to Liang Cheng’s calculations, if the fighting dragged on for too long, they would eventually need agile soldiers to go down at night and collect arrows from the battlefield.

And although Snow Sea Pass was called a strategic pass, it was also effectively a city.

Before the rise of the savages, the Situ Clan’s influence had already extended deep into the snowfields.

Snow Sea Pass had therefore gone a long time without seeing real war.

Trade had flourished.

As a result, the fortress had originally contained a considerable civilian population and many buildings.

The original inhabitants had certainly been seized or driven away when the pass first fell.

But the buildings remained.

Whatever could be demolished was demolished.

Whatever could be dismantled was dismantled.

Anything useful was piled toward the defenses.

During that work, several underground cellars and storerooms were discovered.

The savages had been careless.

And perhaps when Snow Sea Pass first fell they were still relatively “simple” and had not yet understood the Jin habit of hiding things underground.

So they had not completely “cleaned out” the fortress.

That discovery gave Zheng Fan another useful supplement of grain.

In summary the supplies inside Snow Sea Pass were not abundant.

But they were sufficient.

Come, then.

Let the fighting begin.

Zheng Fan silently took out a cigarette.

Every time he departed on campaign, the Blind Man prepared several extra boxes for him.

For some reason, back in his previous life, when deadlines pressed, two packs a day had not been enough.

Yet after waking in this world and regaining access to cigarettes, he might smoke only one a day.

Usually, he remembered them only when something happened.

This section of the wall possessed a forward-projecting “mouth” shape.

The purpose was simple: when an enemy attacked the front, the defenders gained two additional wall faces from which to fire into them.

At this moment, Zheng Fan stood at the very front of that projection.

He raised his head and looked at the sky.

Then quietly smoked.

By the time the cigarette burned down, the savages had begun making their next move.

Groups of displaced civilians were driven to the front.

They carried crude ladders.

Most held nothing more than wooden poles sharpened into spears.

Only a very small number possessed sabers.

Batch after batch were forced toward the walls.

There was naturally no moat on the southern side of Snow Sea Pass.

Liang Cheng had not wasted effort trying to dig trenches in the dead of winter either.

But spikes and caltrops had been scattered across the ground.

Many of these displaced Jin civilians did not even have shoes.

They stepped barefoot onto sharpened metal.

The pain alone was vicious.

And in an era lacking medicine, under weather this extreme, a severe wound like that carried a very high chance of death.

Once the civilians approached close enough to the walls, Liang Cheng ordered the archers to kill them without hesitation.

They could not be allowed to swarm up against the walls.

Otherwise, they would interfere with the defenders’ ability to strike the savage troops advancing behind them.

Most of the Shengle Army consisted of men from Jin.

But one still had to ask: which part of Jin?

The division of Jin among the three great houses had already existed for more than sixty years.

Outsiders still called all of them “Jin people.”

But in reality, the regions had long since split apart.

Most of the Jin-born troops under Zheng Fan had originally been surrendered soldiers from the Helian and Wenren clans.

Others came from the old capital region.

In any case, they felt little sympathy for Jin people from former Situ territory the lands of Dacheng.

So they carried out Liang Cheng’s order decisively.

Arrows rained down from the walls.

The displaced civilians below were killed without mercy.

Their discipline and organization were pitiful.

Normally, men like these were useful only as cannon fodder.

If a city had a moat or defensive ditch, they might be ordered to carry earth forward and fill it.

If the soil ran out, their corpses could fill the gap instead.

The result was the same.

But once arrows began falling upon them with ruthless Yan troops shooting from above and savage warriors glaring behind them most of the civilians simply crouched down, covered their heads, and began crying and screaming as they waited to die.

Liang Cheng gave another order.

“Stop shooting.”

The arrows ceased.

The civilians stared around in numb confusion.

No one dared pick up a ladder and continue trying to climb.

But no one dared retreat either.

Instinctively, they began pressing themselves into clusters along the base of the wall.

No matter how loudly the distant savages screamed, cursed, or waved their blades, they were still too far away.

So the civilians simply crouched there, numb and motionless.

They were not stupid.

They understood that the slightest unusual movement or attempt at escape would immediately bring another rain of arrows from above.

Human beings wanted to live.

Even if the hope was almost nonexistent.

Even if survival meant only a few moments more.

Most people would still choose it.

If one could cling to life for another quarter hour, then one clung.

Even if living had already become little different from walking death.

Zheng Fan cautiously leaned his head over the battlement and looked down.

To his surprise, he saw a woman curled against the wall trying to nurse the child in her arms.

After being seized by the savages and driven this far, he had no idea whether she still had any milk left to give.

Still, Zheng Fan understood that this was not the moment for soft-heartedness.

The Sword Saint was lying somewhere inside the fortress, half-dead.

If he were still able to move, he would probably find a way down the wall and rescue the child.

Zheng Fan sighed.

The excessively righteous troublemaker could no longer move.

In some ways, that did make things easier.

Over on the savage side, once they realized the Jin civilians they had worked so hard to seize had simply collapsed beneath the wall, they finally began sending their own forces forward.

Though they were called savages, many of the men advancing now actually wore Jin faces.

But they had armor.

Their weapons were decent.

The front ranks carried shields.

The ranks behind them hauled scaling ladders.

Farther back came the battering ram.

Then, halfway across the field, before the Shengle troops atop the walls had even fired an arrow, the battering ram’s wheels simply came apart.

In the end, two lines of soldiers had no choice but to lift the great log onto their shoulders and keep moving.

If that was what they were going to do anyway, why bother taking off their trousers just to fart?

“Master,” Liang Cheng said, “the savage assault has already revealed two absurd mistakes.

“The first is that there is neither moat nor trench outside our southern wall, yet they still forced these difficult-to-capture slaves into the attack.

“That accomplished almost nothing.

“The arrows consumed killing them are negligible.

“If this subordinate were commanding from the other side, I would use those slaves for logistics in the military camps.

“Cutting timber.

“Building fortifications.

“Moving supplies.

“There is labor needed everywhere.

“Instead, they have now left all these slaves pressed against our walls.

“When their true main force attacks later, those same civilians will become a serious obstruction.

“There is only so much space beneath a wall.”

In ancient warfare, it was common for laborers to outnumber regular troops two to one.

That was why armies in the historical records so often claimed strengths of four hundred thousand or eight hundred thousand men.

The logistics laborers had frequently been counted in the total.

“Actually...”

Liang Cheng hesitated briefly before continuing:

“The savages are accustomed to driving herds of cattle and sheep with them as they campaign, using them directly as military provisions.

“But after entering the pass this time, they concentrated almost entirely on plunder and on moving what they seized back into the snowfields.

“They relied upon Jin territory itself for everything they needed.

“Also, from the moment the savages entered the pass until the fighting swept across most of Dacheng, spring planting and autumn harvest were both largely disrupted in these regions.

“So at this point, even if the savages want to keep plundering, it has become extremely difficult to obtain enough supplies locally.

“The area around Snow Sea Pass was where they first entered.

“It was also where they plundered most thoroughly.

“So the savage armies... should also be running short of grain soon.”

“So what you mean is— these slaves could be... eaten?”

Liang Cheng remained silent.

That was answer enough.

“Do you have to make it sound that disgusting?”

Zheng Fan knew Liang Cheng had originated as a zombie.

He knew Liang Cheng and A’Ming were close friends who occasionally enjoyed a little red wine together.

But there was no need to say it quite that directly.

“This subordinate was wrong.”

“Keep going.

“I’m listening.”

General Zheng treated the conversation as another lesson.

“The second mistake the savages have made is here.

“Master, look.

“Their main attack is concentrated against this section of the wall where we are standing.”

In other words, the upper half of the protruding “凸” shape.

“But in a real siege, attacking directly toward the city gate and attempting to break through here has a very low success rate.

“Any defender will naturally place the strongest protection around the gate.”

“But when I looked earlier, there didn’t seem to be that many men stationed below the gate...”

Zheng Fan understood.

He nodded.

“You deliberately want them to break through this gate?”

“Not deliberately.

“It would be better if we can hold it.

“But if we cannot, then we simply let them break the first gate.”

The upper half of this projecting section possessed no stairways leading up onto the walls.

So if the savages broke through the outer gate and charged inside in celebration, they would discover something waiting for them: another, stronger gate.

And troops stationed on all four surrounding wall faces would be able to fire inward at them without any blind spots.

The savages who rushed inside would have nowhere to spread out.

They would be packed together, passively waiting to die.

“This really is like an old sow wearing bras.

“One layer after another.”

General Zheng could not help sighing in admiration.

“Master, this subordinate has just noticed a third mistake.

“The savages are beginning their actual assault now.

“I should first escort Master back toward the rear wall.

“We can talk as we go.”

“Good.”

General Zheng accepted the suggestion immediately.

As the two withdrew toward the rear wall and left the front line, Liang Cheng continued:

“Master, look at the savage troops in this first assault.

“Their faces are no different from Jin people.

“This subordinate suspects they are Gelimu’s former troops.

“Since Gelimu himself was of Jin birth, there is nothing strange about the fact that most of his soldiers were surrendered Jin troops.

“Now Gelimu is dead.

“These savage Ten-Thousand Household Commanders have simply pushed Gelimu’s old force forward as the main body of the first assault.

“Normally, that would not necessarily be wrong.

“Someone always has to make the first attempt.

“But that would be under circumstances where Gelimu himself was still alive.

“Gelimu is dead.

“To openly drive his former troops forward as the first expendable wave is extremely likely to create resentment among those surrendered Jin soldiers.

“Their morale during the assault will collapse quickly.

“And later, if we decide to conduct another night raid, their camp may become the best point through which to break open the savage lines.”

“Prepare—

LOOSE!”

Xue San was currently directing the men operating the trebuchets.

Truthfully, these machines had limited killing power against dispersed infantry.

After all, there was no way to produce explosive shells.

Ordinarily, defenders used trebuchets to smash enemy siege towers or destroy the attackers’ own stone-throwers.

But the savages possessed neither.

Still trying to attack a wall while constantly worrying about “meteorites” suddenly dropping out of the sky was itself an enormous blow to morale.

“So,” Zheng Fan asked, “you’re saying holding the fortress should basically not be a problem?”

“That is thanks to the Sword Saint killing Gelimu that day.”

Without Gelimu, the savages had lost the commander with the greatest prestige among them.

Although Gelimu had been born a man of Jin, he had also been one of the Savage King’s earliest direct followers one of the men who had staked everything on him from the beginning.

And among all the savage commanders, Gelimu had understood siege warfare best.

What Zheng Fan and Liang Cheng did not know was that when the savages previously broke through two Situ Clan cities in the snowfields and later captured Snow Sea Pass, Situ Yi and Situ Jiong had certainly acted as guides and internal collaborators.

But on the frontal battlefield especially during the sieges—

Gelimu’s command had placed enormous pressure upon the Dacheng defenders.

That had been what created the openings Situ Yi and Situ Jiong exploited from within.

Now Gelimu was dead.

And the Jin army beneath him the force most experienced with siege warfare had fallen into low morale.

“Basically, there should not be much trouble,” Liang Cheng said.

“Unless the Savage King transfers another major commander and a direct-line elite force from the front to reorganize these men and renew the siege.”

Hearing that “unless,”

Zheng Fan laughed.

Clearly, even a man as cautious as General Zheng did not care much about this particular possibility.

Because the man confronting the Savage King along the Wang River was no longer the former First Prince.

It was the Marquis of Jingnan!

Go on, then.

Pull your generals and elite troops away from the front.

Try it.

Facing the Marquis of Jingnan do you dare?

As the Marquis of Jingnan’s “proud disciple,”

Zheng Fan possessed enormous confidence in Tian Wujing’s ability to wage war.

And right now, the Marquis of Jingnan commanded more than eighty thousand Jingnan and Zhenbei troops combined.

That did not even count Yan’s other regional armies or Dacheng’s forces.

General Zheng almost felt bold enough to combine the **One Yang Finger** with the **Lion’s Roar** and shout arrogantly at the Savage King:

“Come on!

“Come over here!”

Once Liang Cheng escorted Zheng Fan back to the rear wall, he looked toward the front and observed the developing battle.

Then he said:

“Judging from this, it may actually be difficult for the savages to break even our first gate.”

There was almost a trace of regret in his tone, as though disappointed that one of his defensive arrangements might never have a chance to reveal itself.

Zheng Fan leaned against the battlement behind him and stretched.

“So what you’re saying is, our part here is basically finished.

“Now we just wait and see how the Marquis of Jingnan crushes the main savage army at the front?”

The price had been one Sword Saint.

Plus Zheng Fan’s own hundred-odd jin of flesh and the long-range raid of ten thousand Shengle troops.

But Snow Sea Pass had been nailed shut.

Next—

Tian Wujing, the brush is yours.

...

Two blossoms opened on separate branches.

Both banks of the Wang River had been extraordinarily lively lately.

The Yan army had repeatedly divided and repositioned itself.

At several different locations, it created the appearance of preparing to attack.

The savages responded move for move, adjusting their own deployments accordingly.

And yet the Yan army did nothing except form ranks and rotate positions.

After so many days, it had not launched even one genuine assault.

The Wang River was clearly frozen.

Yet the Yan seemed to have no intention of seizing the opportunity granted by the weather.

The savages, meanwhile, maintained the same style they had used before.

Wherever the Yan army shifted, the savages adjusted accordingly.

At the same time, they continued preserving the posture of being ready to withdraw if circumstances turned unfavorable.

As for whether they would truly retreat, whether they genuinely feared fighting Yan head-on come across the river and test it yourself.

So with the Wang River dividing them hundreds of thousands of troops on both sides behaved like two supposed martial-arts “masters” circling one another before a village audience.

One side raised a **White Crane Spreads Its Wings**.

The other answered with **Praying Mantis Fist**.

One threatened **Black Tiger Steals the Heart**.

The other bared an **Eagle Claw**.

In short neither side actually struck.

They simply circled endlessly, building the audience’s anticipation to the limit.

...

Inside the Savage King’s command tent, the Savage King stared at the latest intelligence just delivered from the rear.

Gelimu was dead.

Killed by the Sword Saint of Jin.

The Savage King desperately wanted to laugh.

He genuinely felt this was the funniest joke he had heard all year.

This was a war between two armies.

And Gelimu had somehow allowed the enemy to send out one expert and kill him in front of both formations!

Fortunately, the Savage King neither lost control nor actually laughed aloud.

He merely glanced toward A’Lai, who had just delivered the report, and asked:

“The messenger...”

A’Lai immediately answered:

“King.

“I already executed him.”

The news that Snow Sea Pass had fallen absolutely could not be allowed to spread through the army.

If everyone learned that the road home had been cut by Yan, then not even the largest and most brilliant stars would be able to steady the resulting collapse in morale.

“King, should we send more men back...?”

The Savage King shook his head.

“The man opposite us is that Southern Marquis of Yan.”

A genuine opponent.

“King, our cavalry have already sealed every route coming from the east.

“The Southern Marquis opposite us should not know that Snow Sea Pass has already...”

The Savage King raised one hand and pressed it against his forehead.

Then he sighed.

“I know.”

“Hm?”

A’Lai did not understand.

“I said—

I know.”

“This...”

*Of course I know you know, King.*

“Unless I did not know.

“But in truth, I learned long ago that Snow Sea Pass had fallen.

“So ever since then, I have deliberately acted in front of the Yan army as though nothing has happened in the rear.

“As though we remain completely free to retreat into the snowfields whenever we wish— and the only question is whether they dare cross the river and test us.”

“Yes, King.

“So why...?”

The Savage King clenched his teeth.

“Because I know.

“And therefore every response I make afterward contains disguise.

“I am trying to deceive that Southern Marquis of Yan.

“To convince him there is no problem in my rear.

“To convince him we can still retreat into the snowfields whenever we wish.

“But... that Southern Marquis has spent these past days constantly moving his troops along the opposite bank.

“And I have been forced to move my own forces in response.

“It is like even the finest lie.

“Repeat it often enough, and eventually there will be a flaw.

“Once I learned that Snow Sea Pass had fallen, everything I did afterward became deliberate.

“Other people might not be able to see anything.

“But that Southern Marquis...”

“He... he can tell?”

The Savage King rubbed both hands hard across his face.

He drew in a deep breath.

Then shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

...

Across the river inside the Eastern Expedition Army’s command tent—

Li Fusheng lifted the curtain and entered.

He dropped to one knee before the Marquis of Jingnan.

“This general greets the Marquis.

“I do not know why the Marquis summoned me...”

“Did you feel it?”

“Hm?”

Li Fusheng was confused.

*Damn it.*

*That question is far too broad.*

Li Fusheng suddenly found himself missing that brat surnamed Zheng.

That kid knew how to speak.

He also knew how to read people.

If he were here, he would probably know how to answer this question.

“Did you feel it?” the Marquis of Jingnan asked again.

Li Fusheng a man who took pleasure in slaughter could only bite the bullet and answer:

“This general is dull.

“May I ask what the Marquis means?”

The Marquis of Jingnan extended one hand.

He pointed east.

“The savages’ rear has probably developed a problem.”

“Huh?”

*How the hell did you feel that?*

*Marquis, can you tell fortunes now?*

Naturally, Li Fusheng did not dare ask that aloud.

Before this white-haired Marquis, even a Zhenbei Army Chief Commander whose life revolved around killing did not dare show the slightest disrespect.

He had heard that the Marquis of Jingnan’s granduncle seemed to have been a Mystic Cultivator.

So perhaps if the Marquis of Jingnan possessed some skill in mystical arts himself, that would not be unreasonable?

But as a veteran commander who had spent his life on battlefields, Li Fusheng absolutely refused to believe the Marquis of Jingnan would fight wars by telling fortunes.

That would be pure nonsense.

The Marquis of Jingnan did not appear interested in explaining.

He simply rose to his feet.

Then said:

“Beat the drums.

“Assemble the generals.”

[End of Chapter 337]